Are they all needed in my Mame folder? Mr. Do's page says to copy to my mame folder, but when I get a pre-compiled (normal) version of mame from the net, it doesn't have most these files from what I remember.

Thanks!

Some of these are tools. If you don't need it, it won't be noticed. Just to keep things straight, it doesn't hurt to copy all of your compiled set of executables over. If you want to match precompiled sets of exe's, then don't worry about the extra files. no worries.

Some timer functions changed in MAME 121, so here is the updated hiscore diff to get it to compile and work as expected!

Also, do the admins have the ability to move this post below the other 2 posts at the start of this thread so all the files are at top? I suppose the other option would be to remove all the files that were only good for u releases and just keep the major releases and the *current* u releases. This would cut down on the number of different files....

At any rate...here it is!

Happy gaming!

edit ----I removed the diff's that were only valid for u releases of old versions. This also helps clear up some confusion on what diff to download for what version....

You're welcome.I've changed the thread to basically contain only the major releases hiscore diff with the exception of maintaining the diff for the u releases of the current version.The way I see it, no one should want to run a u release for an older version. They may, however, be like me and run the u releases if they are the most current version allowed.

I currently use MAME Plus which includes support for high scores. On the recent MAME versions, when I hit the reset button during the game, I loose my high score. However, if I quit the game without resetting, I don't loose it. Back when MAME had native high score support this did not happen.

Now, I don't know if MAME Plus uses the same method as in these diff files so I would like to know if this happens with MAME compiled with the diff file (i.e. the high score is lost when the game is reset).

While we're at it, I know the diff file removes the nag screens. I suppose this doesn't improve the loading time of some of the simpler games? The reason I ask is because with older MAME versions, when I launched a "light weight" game like frogger, it would come up in 2-3 seconds. However, in newer versions, it stays on that "initializing" screen for at least twice the time. This is, of course, on the same computer. What is different in MAME now that it takes so much longer to load anything?

I am looking to remove the disclaimers and white border. I am using the hi_118_119.diff file for this. I figured I'd optimize it for my chip while I am at it to speed things up a bit. Is this the correct file to use? (the readme file says u1, u2, u3 etc)

Not sure what is going on here, looking for some help. I have used the mamecompiler tool, to compile mame .121, and used the hiscore.diff for .121 as well. I would guess the compile went well, there were no errors, and the new mame.exe now loads roms without any nag screens and the like. I downloaded the latest hiscore.dat I could find, put it in my mame directory where my mame.exe resides. I also made a new directory called "hi" in the mame directory. It does not look like hi scores are saving though, testing with Pacman, since that is the easiest game to get a high score in quickly that I found. Any suggestions?

Not sure what is going on here, looking for some help. I have used the mamecompiler tool, to compile mame .121, and used the hiscore.diff for .121 as well. I would guess the compile went well, there were no errors, and the new mame.exe now loads roms without any nag screens and the like. I downloaded the latest hiscore.dat I could find, put it in my mame directory where my mame.exe resides. I also made a new directory called "hi" in the mame directory. It does not look like hi scores are saving though, testing with Pacman, since that is the easiest game to get a high score in quickly that I found. Any suggestions?

Hmmm...sounds like if you aren't getting the warning screens or the 'whitebox' stuff...the diff was applied correctly. A sure fire way to tell would be do type mame -cc on the command line and take a look at the mame.ini file created. You should see a line like this:

hiscore_directory hi

If you don't, then the diff wasn't applied correctly. If you do have that line, just make sure the hiscore.dat is in the SAME folder as your mame.exe (which you said it was) and the hi folder is created under the mame folder...like this: c:\mame\hi.

Also, I don't know how you are running mame...if you are using a frontend, make sure it is running the correct mame.exe. Maybe you are like me and have a mamep4.exe or something.

Thanks for your feedback! I am typing this now without going downstairs to check it out, but I'll let you know. I did indeed have a mamep4.exe, but I renamed it to just mame.exe and deleted the original. I'll have a look see in the mame.ini and see if there's something going on. Everything else seems kosher, and I'm not sure how I could have applied a diff incorrectly since there was just the one.

*edit*

Ok, just checked. Here's what I found. Performed a mame -cc from my working mame directory. It created my mame.ini in the same directory. In that file there is:

Thanks for your feedback! I am typing this now without going downstairs to check it out, but I'll let you know. I did indeed have a mamep4.exe, but I renamed it to just mame.exe and deleted the original. I'll have a look see in the mame.ini and see if there's something going on. Everything else seems kosher, and I'm not sure how I could have applied a diff incorrectly since there was just the one.

*edit*

Ok, just checked. Here's what I found. Performed a mame -cc from my working mame directory. It created my mame.ini in the same directory. In that file there is:

Changing the line made it work. I was unclear as to how that had to be configured I suppose. Hopefully this blunder will help anyone else out that ends up with the same problem. Thanks a ton, and great work!

Okay, with the patches mspac man has a few issues.. At times the maze is blue when its suppose to be pink.. and if hitting f3 to reset the hardware & then hitting 5 to put in change and then 1 to start the same.. doing this process of f3,5,1 a few times the hiscore of mspacman is completely wiped out.. at other times its wiped out at the times the screen is blue instead of pink... Im wondering if its possibly the hiscore.dat files locations for the hiscore placement that could be causing this problem, or the patches themselves.. Im going to patch 123u1 and add debug and etc and see if i can't find the problem in the hiscore.dat? am I the only one with this problem?? and whats the use of the hiscore.dat or even patching for hiscores if the hiscore.dat isnt being kept upto date...

I would be surprised if the maze color IS, in fact, caused by the hiscore piece. There is NOTHING in the diff that would cause 'color' of the maze to change. So, more than likely, it is a core mame driver issue you are seeing or something to do with your rig. Don't apply the hiscore.diff and see if you see the same behavior.

As far as losing the hiscores by doing a reset...this is normal. Basically, the hiscore piece injects the high scores at start up...and then saves them at exit. When you 'reset' the hardware in the game, check the high scores...they are getting reset in the game. When you exit the game, the high scores in the game are then saved...which are the defaults.

While it is true the hiscore.dat is not being updated, I would venture to say it is over 95% (if not more) still accurate in applying the high scores...way more reliable than the other option of save states. The vast bulk of the older games that didn't say high scores are dumped accurately and have been added to the hiscore.dat(thanks to Leezer). Alot of the newer games that get added save the high scores via nvram file...so hiscore.dat is not needed for them.

Okay.. It appears to be something they did.. It might have to do with removingthe old color table.. in u1 it wasent completely removed yet. but your absolutelyright it doesnt have to do with the hiscore.dat.. still a bit confused on the resetwiping out the mspacman.hi completely though.. i will see what happensafter i compile 123u2 the old color table is suppose to be completely removed,might fix the issue...

There's a fairly well-known glitch in the game - if you put a coin in when the Ms. Pac-Man marquee title first appears but before Blinky appears then the first board will be blue instead of pink and will remain blue until you either finish the board or lose a life, after which the board will return to its normal color.

First, thanks MkChamp for the patch, but there is one problem for me applying these modifications.

Since I'm using a fixed 60hz display, I'm using the refreshspeed option for mame to slow down a little bit some games, correcting audio glitches.

I don't want to change the speed option to say 0.98, since it will slow down all games even those that run under 60hz.

It seems that the calculation is done during startup screens (they're now gone!), so the calculation is wrong. For example on a 60hz display, using refreshspeed 1 in mame.ini, dkong should run steady at 98.00%. Now it's random and audio glitches appear.

Here is what I did to patch the problem. But if you find a better way, I'll welcome it with open arms!

Or is there a way you could include this little patch?

-------------------------------------------------------

For mame 0.123:

In mame.ini, set: refreshspeed 60 (instead of 0 or 1, Boolean changed for an Integer)

Nice find Pitou!I've uploaded a new diff (starting with 123u3 that corrects this refreshspeed bug. I'm not sure adding your 'patch' to the hiscore diff would be the right thing to do, however, because it might not be suitable for the majority of people using it. 2 options available for you to try is:1) In your mame ini file, set the following lines:speed 2.0refreshspeed 1

This is the setting most people seem to have the best success with for the games that run at 60.

2) Create your own little diff for applying your patch. You may already know how, but just in case you are not sure:a) Patch the mame source with all the u diffs and then the hiscore diff. Copy the src folder and rename the copied folder to "old"b) Patch the original src folder with your changes. So the directory will have the src folder with all the diffs applied plus your patch...and the old folder with all the diffs applied minus your patch.c) then run "diff -r -c -N old/ src/ > your_patch_name.diff"

This will create your own diff that you can apply in the future to any version of mame (unless the src changes drastically enough to not be able to apply your patch. Of course, you will need the diff.exe which can easily be obtained on the web.

For sure I could create my own diff, but, I'm gonna test your fix and if it works fine, I'm not going to use my patch anymore

2 quick questions:

1- Along with refreshspeed 1, why using a speed of 2.0?

2- I didn't take time to look at differents hi_diff files yet, so, to simplify my life can you tell me what you did? Before discovering this thread, I was patching all screens by myself, white box etc... but never found a way to fix the refreshspeed.

First off...if anyone downloaded the hi_123u3.txt file, I made a small change and re-uploaded it at 7:30pm central time(02-28-08)...so you *may* want to get it again :-( I noticed that one of the white boxes were still visible on startup. The change gets rid of the center white box, however, for a BRIEF millisecond, you may see the giant white box on startup. In reality, it shouldn't even catch your eye...so, if it bothers you or you are on a mission, feel free to figure out a way to get rid of it without having to be extremely invasive to the MAME core. Basically, ( and to answer your second question. Pitou ), in the ui.c module, in the ui_set_startup_text routine I commented out everything and entered the line osd_update(machine, 0);...apparently it needs this to set the refresh speed correctly. I'm sure with enough time you could figure out another way, but if you compile this and test it on your own, I think you will see what I mean by not even catching your eye ;-)To answer your first question, Pitou, that combo seems to be what works for alot of the people with the issue you were having. Take a look here and you'll see some other interesting things with the 60HZ displays...http://www.mameworld.info/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=139206&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1

edit: Just tested it on my cab, and this doesn't work very well. The patch still does all the stuff with the exception of the startup junk...I'll have to take a look deeper at fixing it...so much for my lazy shortcuts ;-)

I noticed a small box in the middle of the screen during the loading of a game, it wasen't there with 123u2.. does anyone know how to remove it.. I find it a bit annoying and it acts funny when loading games like gaplus. TIA

Ok...just re-uploaded the hi_123u3.txt file(12:41 central time 02-29-08). Got it all sorted out and tested. It now correctly applies refreshspeed/speed option and removes ALL the white box/junk on start up. This was a little more MAME core invasive than I liked since that means that if/when MAME changes significantly, there's more 'patching' to keep the hiscore diff up to date...but what cha gonna do.

t3ckn0b0y: Grab the new hi_123u3 file and compile with that. If you could please test it and let me know that it works for you, that would be great.

Pitou: you can search for "hiscore white box" in the diff for what the changes I made to get it to get rid of the white box while retaining the correct refreshspeed.